


A Bit Of Scrap

by pikkugen



Category: Finnish Mythology
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-19
Updated: 2012-12-19
Packaged: 2017-11-21 13:43:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/598402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pikkugen/pseuds/pikkugen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ilmarinen's wife tells about her day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Bit Of Scrap

**Author's Note:**

  * For [digitalis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/digitalis/gifts).



A Bit of Scrap

He was already a handsome lad when I first saw him a few years ago, ash-blond, whip-thin and gloomy. His heavy dark brows and deep-set blue eyes reminded me of his late grandfather, old Kalervo himself; his sensuous mouth of his mother, the daughter of Kalervo. Yesterday, he came to our household and my husband, the renowned smith Ilmarinen, gave him to me saying, "Take care of him, but beware, he is very strong and doesn't know it."

I clothed him in a clean linen shirt and a blue hose, and made a joke about blue eyes and blue socks which he didn't seem to appreciate. "So gloomy for one so young," I said. "Tomorrow we'll find you some work and see if we can make you laugh a bit."

Ilmarinen told me later that night that he had gotten the boy, a war-slave, practically for free from his former master, Untamo the sheep-owner. A family feud, as I understand; old Kalervo and his brother had quarrelled for ages over some property and fishing-rights, and the whole thing had culminated in Untamo's slaying of his brother and his entire household. He had spared but one, Ailitsa, the young daughter of Kalervo, who had married a man of his household only a few months before. Now she was a pretty young thing, and her son had her good looks. I don't wonder why he spared her... but it happened her husband had already gotten her pregnant, so Untamo just kept her as a slave. Not that he kept his slaves badly, but he took the boy from the mother right after he was born, and tried to get rid of him. You'd never believe a newborn could survive all the things he put him through... but it appears the lad has some talent in magic. (Or Untamo just couldn't really kill him, the old softy as he is beneath his hard shell. I know, I talk too much... but everyone comes to the smithy once in a while and they tend to gossip while waiting for their goods.) His mother had bought her own freedom and left Untamo's house a good ten years ago, and no-one had seen her for a while.

Now where was I?... Oh yes, the lad. Kullervo he called himself, the golden boy, though Untamo had mainly called him "the brat" or "the war-spoils". I don't wonder the two didn't get along. Now, he had been doing all kinds of menial chores at Untamo's, none of which seemed to turn out well, so there I was wondering what to make of him. The lad was big for his age - what, thirteen? Fourteen? - but had had no actual learning in any trade, so I thought he should be put into something he just couldn't mangle if he tried. My old herdsman had been killed by a bear previous autumn, so I figured the lad should make a good herdsman. How hard could that be? You drive the cows out into pasture, you make sure nothing comes after them, and if any beasts do, you chase them away. And I certainly wouldn't mind a bear-skin or some wolf-pelts if it came to that. I had heard of the things he had done while still a child, so I wouldn't put it past him to actually kill any beasts that came his way.

So, in the morning I rose early to bake some bread, and I thought to try and make him a bit happier by making a bread all for him. I took some oats and made a nice proper loaf, all buttered and smooth, and reminded myself I'd have to say to my husband we needed a new mill-stone since the old one had a bad crack and it shed slivers of rock into the flours. I believed I had sieved all the slivers off, but just to be sure the lad wouldn't mind I covered the fresh loaf with a good amount of fresh butter and a wheat cake. Then I put the loaf into a bag and gave it to the lad who was waiting by the door. 

"Here's your bread, now go and herd my cows in the woods! Be sure to guard them from any beasts, and don't let them stray into the marshes, and don't eat your bread until you're at the pastures, because otherwise you'll go hungry for the rest of the day! Do you have a knife?" 

He showed me his knife, a sad little thing really, with a flimsy blade and a worn wooden handle, but he told me it had belonged to his father and he seemed so proud about it that I had no heart to tell him I could give him a better one. My husband wouldn't mind if I gave him one of those he deemed too ugly to sell; he is very particular about his fame as a master smith. Not that his knives weren't good, but he always wants them to be perfect. And if one isn't - well, he just gives it to his hirelings or throws it away. 

Now the lad went on his way with my cows, and I set to make him some new clothes. My husband is too big, his old clothes wouldn't fit him even if I cut them in half, so I just took some new cloth and made him something he could wear without bringing us shame. He might be a slave until he had earned his freedom, but I'll see no-one in my household going around in stained tatters.

After that, as I had some time all to myself, I went to the well and to my surprise I saw there young Kullervo's mother Ailitsa. She came with empty pails to fill and lines of worry on her still pretty forehead, and she greeted me when she saw me waiting for my turn. Apparently she had been helping someone in the village.

"Oh, never mind me, I was hot and came to drink here because our water tastes like iron, you know how it is with a smithy nearby," I chattered as she filled her pails. "Your son went to herd my cows this morning, he seems like a good lad. Is he always that gloomy?"

"Yes, he is," she said and sat in the shadow for a while. "Untamo kept him working day and night, and he had trouble accepting that. I know he's a good lad, but he is a bit too hot-headed for his own good. And he was born with his own magic. I just hope your husband will put him into something he can use his talents on." 

"He is herding cows today, as I said. I'll see what I'll make him do tomorrow. That knife he is carrying, did it really belong to his father?"

"No, goodness." She rose and grabbed the pails again. "It was just some scrap Untamo gave him to eat with. Why?"

"He seemed very attached to it. Ah well, if it breaks, I'll get him a new one. A better one. Look, I know I shouldn't ask, but where do you live, and can I tell your son that? I think most of his gloominess lies in the belief he's all alone in the world. Do you have a new family? It's been quite a while since the war, you know." 

She smiled and looked a while like the young bride I remembered. "My husband survived," she said. "We live beyond the woods there, by the riverside after the three waterfalls, and when Kullervo has earned his freedom, he is welcome to come home. We have two daughters, too, Annikki and Mielikki. And another on the way." She patted her stomach that was slightly swollen. 

I smiled and congratulated her. "I'll tell him when he comes home tonight," I said. "This is excellent news. And I think his slave-price wasn't that great, he should be able to buy his freedom in no time at all. I'd set him free this instant if it wasn't for that grumpy old Untamo." 

She smiled and we said goodbye, and I went back home. The whole day I was busy, but now the night is falling and I hear a herdsman's horn sounding at the cattle gate. It seems my young herdsman is more able to entertain himself than I thought, I didn't give him one when he left. I must hurry out to milk my cows and see if young Kullervo has enjoyed his bread, and whether I can persuade him to take a new knife instead of that old piece of scrap...


End file.
